An American Soldier on the "Philippine Insurrection"

If I had the pleasure of time and if there were no other priorities in life, I would spend my days on historical texts and photos or learning how to paint. Limitations shouldn't stop one from pursuing God-given passions. A lot of times I just need to make do with Saturdays.

Here's a quote from an American soldier during the Philippine-American war and an accompanying photo from this afternoon's reading:

Ellis G. Davis, Company A, 20th Kansas Volunteers:

"They will never surrender until their whole race is exterminated. They are fighting for a good cause, and the Americans should be the last of all nations to transgress upon such rights. Their independence is dearer to them than life, as ours was in years gone by, and is today. They should have their independence, and would have had it if those who make the laws in America had not been so slow in deciding the Philippine question. Of course, we have to fight now to protect the honor of our country but there is not a man who enlisted to fight these people, and should the United States annex these islands, none but the most bloodthirsty will claim himself a hero. This is not a lack of patriotism, but my honest belief."

I planned on taking an additional History course after finishing Econ-Pol. Sci. and already talked to one of our History profs at UP Baguio but God had other plans so I had to let it go.

One of the privileges of living in Manila, despite the intense heat and humidity, are opportunities to attend lectures of great professors like Ambeth Ocampo. I missed the first of his Ayala Museum lectures last month but I'm hoping to attend the next lectures. This July 24's topic is on the Philippine Revolution. Head on to his Facebook Account for more details.

I believe that we Filipinos will be more patriotic if we really know our past, not just the text book one liner notes we were taught in grade school about Philippine heroes. We will be inspired by the greatness of the land and the people that God destined for us. We will also learn from the mistakes of those who tarnished the greatness of the same land and people that we belong to.

As Ambeth Ocampo would say, "history does not repeat itself; we repeat history."